Sunday, 12 August 2007
BBC TV News Review - Saturday 11th August
I watched the BBC late afternoon news programme yesterday, our host was Nicholas Owen, and our leading feature the ongoing mysterious case of the McCann's and missing Maddie. It appears that yesterday the Portuguese police finally acknowledged that Madeleine may in fact be dead however we were assured that her parents and parents friends are not suspects.
We heard of further rumours - "search dogs detected the odor of a dead body" - in the families apartment, then we saw Mr & Mrs McC., attending chapel in Portugual yesterday, dressed in yellow and green t shirts and shorts. This was a special hundred days missing event. However, the police consider the family as both victims and witnesses in this case. We heard of Robert Murat and the as yet unanalysed blood samples to close.
Madeleine - Stolen, quick and easy ? Oatso simple ?
Foot and Mouth - we went to Dorking, it appears that the virus has been successfully contained; we heard from farmer Paul Matthews who was relieved, then we saw some "stockbrokers" who live in the local area. They all seemed pretty chuffed as well. Debby Reynolds, chief government veterinary officer, told how we should all remain vigilent though. It is still a mystery as to how the virus escaped though.
As reported yesterday, a body found close to a railway line in Essex, is believed to be that of Natasha Coombs who went missing on July 23rd. We saw photographic images of the girl and CCTV images from the train station where she was last seen alive. For some unknown reason, the BBC showed a press conference from the end of last week, where her boyfriend tearfully pleaded for her to come home.
An unusual feature next, on how "living beside the sea does not have to cost the earth." We floated up to Bridlington for this feature and saw locals and visitors interviewed for their opinions. To close, we saw a tourist boat, called Jaws, for sale.
Football - Sunderland won
Cricket - England struggling.
cheers
Saturday, 11 August 2007
BBC TV News Review - Friday 10th August
It was Fiona Bruce again on the BBC News at 10 yesterday, our leading feature was that of the stock exchange falls throughout the world. We heard how the whole system seems to be reacting to news about the American sub prime lending market which is looking decidedly ropey although has been for some time. We heard of repossessions, banks lending to banks, credit crunches - the worst may still be to come.
A mother, Sharon Wright, who killed her own baby daughter, Leticia, followed as we heard that the child was locked in a room with no toys and that when found she had over 100 separate injuries. Countless images of the girl were shown and we heard from neighbours who had seen the child standing at a window on countless occasions - eventually they had phoned the authorities which was when matters came to light. Sharon and her boyfriend, who was not the father, were both given life sentences.
Soldier killed in Afghanistan - Arial map in blood red to illustrate
2 soldiers killed in Iraq yesterday - named and photographic images shown.
Alzheimer's disease, campaigners yesterday lost their attempt to force the NHS to prescribe drugs to sufferers. The NHS claim that the drugs in question do not make enough of a difference to make them worthwhile for the majority. We heard from sufferers who were disgusted at the decision and images of adorable grandchildren were shown.
Body found in Essex, believed to be that of Natasha Coombs, aged 17.
The McCanns again, they are angry at speculative media reports which appear to link them and their holiday party with that of their missing daughter. We saw images of Maddy and were told of the little actual facts there were. We heard of Robert Murat, the families campaign (like nothing before), David Beckham cropped up as we heard of "sophisticated multimedia", and then we saw Mrs McCann with the Pope.
Again we were reminded of facts and speculation. There seems to be "few hard facts". Nothing was uncovered in the searches of Mr Murat's mothers property. Mention was made of the bloodstains and that the "Portuguese police question the abduction"Again we saw the McCanns and we concluded by being told we "dont actually know anything."
Secondhand Lions anyone ?
Coming up - football - foreign players - the FA are worried.
Foot and Mouth - we heard how the disease appears to have been contained and that some of the culled animals did not actually have the virus at all. David Shukman, the chief scientific reporter for the BBC, told of "parallel fronts" and "stress in labs". Gordon Brown, the PM, told how "Britain is open for business." We spoke to John Emerson via telephone, a farmer who's
herd of cattle was destroyed and then to close we hoped of no further outbreaks - "touch wood."
Kenny Ritchie, a scotsman who has been on Death Row for a considerable number of years has had in sentence overturned.
Serving military personnel are to be forced to seek approval from the MOD before posting any blogs, video clips etc to the internet. We heard how this could be a security risk - images were shown of home made mobile phone video battle clips.
Football as promised, a long feature on foreign players and whether they are good for the game - all the usual celebrity footballers were on hand, black and white.
To finish, the death of Anthony Wilson yesterday. Mr Wilson was heavily involved with the Manchester music scene and the Hacienda night club, images were shown of him and we heard of New Order. From Black Friday to Blue Monday.
cheers
A mother, Sharon Wright, who killed her own baby daughter, Leticia, followed as we heard that the child was locked in a room with no toys and that when found she had over 100 separate injuries. Countless images of the girl were shown and we heard from neighbours who had seen the child standing at a window on countless occasions - eventually they had phoned the authorities which was when matters came to light. Sharon and her boyfriend, who was not the father, were both given life sentences.
Soldier killed in Afghanistan - Arial map in blood red to illustrate
2 soldiers killed in Iraq yesterday - named and photographic images shown.
Alzheimer's disease, campaigners yesterday lost their attempt to force the NHS to prescribe drugs to sufferers. The NHS claim that the drugs in question do not make enough of a difference to make them worthwhile for the majority. We heard from sufferers who were disgusted at the decision and images of adorable grandchildren were shown.
Body found in Essex, believed to be that of Natasha Coombs, aged 17.
The McCanns again, they are angry at speculative media reports which appear to link them and their holiday party with that of their missing daughter. We saw images of Maddy and were told of the little actual facts there were. We heard of Robert Murat, the families campaign (like nothing before), David Beckham cropped up as we heard of "sophisticated multimedia", and then we saw Mrs McCann with the Pope.
Again we were reminded of facts and speculation. There seems to be "few hard facts". Nothing was uncovered in the searches of Mr Murat's mothers property. Mention was made of the bloodstains and that the "Portuguese police question the abduction"Again we saw the McCanns and we concluded by being told we "dont actually know anything."
Secondhand Lions anyone ?
Coming up - football - foreign players - the FA are worried.
Foot and Mouth - we heard how the disease appears to have been contained and that some of the culled animals did not actually have the virus at all. David Shukman, the chief scientific reporter for the BBC, told of "parallel fronts" and "stress in labs". Gordon Brown, the PM, told how "Britain is open for business." We spoke to John Emerson via telephone, a farmer who's
herd of cattle was destroyed and then to close we hoped of no further outbreaks - "touch wood."
Kenny Ritchie, a scotsman who has been on Death Row for a considerable number of years has had in sentence overturned.
Serving military personnel are to be forced to seek approval from the MOD before posting any blogs, video clips etc to the internet. We heard how this could be a security risk - images were shown of home made mobile phone video battle clips.
Football as promised, a long feature on foreign players and whether they are good for the game - all the usual celebrity footballers were on hand, black and white.
To finish, the death of Anthony Wilson yesterday. Mr Wilson was heavily involved with the Manchester music scene and the Hacienda night club, images were shown of him and we heard of New Order. From Black Friday to Blue Monday.
cheers
Friday, 10 August 2007
BBC TV News Review - Thursday 9th August
We commenced with Fiona Bruce and BAA on the BBC News at 10, as we heard of questions over customer service, in particular, the horrendous delays and queues that passengers experience nowadays, if travelling by air. Accusations were made about airports simply being shopping malls, however Stephen Nelson, the chief executive of the airline, said, after apologising, that the basic problems were that of security tightening plus they were full to capacity.
Our reporter, Evan Davies, was at Heathrow to tell us more; bizarrely he was dressed in a hard hat and yellow reflective jacket as he spoke of "baggage mountains" and indicated piles of suitcases. We went back to the studio where Evan had performed a quick Mr. Benn routine and was now dressed in suit and ready to chat with Fiona. Here, he elaborated slightly on the story and told how it was not just security that was slowing the airport function down, there are "immigration queues for example."
Iraq next, another 2 British soldiers killed, 4 this week, one of their sisters was interviewed, obviously upset. We heard from an MP who told how these soldiers are "keeping us safe", no mention was made of what. Talk was of the situation in Basra, we heard how our troops are in "danger of getting a good kicking" and an arial map was shown with the danger-zones highlighted in blood red. Images of burning vehicles and urban anarchy were shown to close.
2 RAF men killed in Yorkshire - helicopter crash
A serviceman at Sandhurst has been arrested after a female cadet plunged from a third floor window to her death. Mention was made of a love triangle.
17 holidaymakers have been injured in the Artic circle after the luxury liner they were cruising on, was involved in an altercation with an ice flow - a chunk fell off, and heavy waves then rocked the vessel. We were told how the Artic was a "popular tourist destination" and that the Russian crew had perhaps been "too close". The local artic constabulary are looking into this matter further - allegations of shipmates monkeying about?
Foot and Mouth - still some debate over who exactly is to blame for the outbreak(s) and we heard how a worker at the states Institute for Animal Health (IAH) research station had contracted legionairres disease although obviously this has no connection. Dr Anderson, a chief government scientist told that this was an irrelevant side issue - he spoke of scientists working 24 hours per day (amphetamine?) and seems to be insinuating that Merial must be to blame as they had handled one million times more of the virus than the IAH.
We continued as we heard of another 300 cows culled today; farmer John Emmerson was "gutted", he couldnt watch it. "Some better news" though, as we saw "cattle heading for an abbatoir." They'll be gutted too, shortly.
Coming up - Death in the Jungle - Gorillas
First, floods in Asia. We heard of the problems - lack of shelter and drinking water. An arial map was shown with the affected zones highlighted. A reporter told how he had witnessed "a woman, minutes from death, just reaching a hospital in time".Images of flood victims were shown, we heard of diarrhoe and saw individuals drinking clearly dirty water, they had "no choice." More images were shown of infants and hospitals along with flooded bamboo shack style housing.
Pakistan - no state of emergency has been imposed (implying it should be) and we heard of George Bush and a "key in the war on terror."
Stock markets - crashing worldwide
A Dr. Sandhu has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a thirteen year old girl at the hospital in Norfolk where he worked. Police also found indecent images of a juvenile on his personal computer at home. We heard how all the appropriate security and background checks had been carried out before he was offered employment in the UK.
Gun crime - Jesse James in Manchester, two individuals described as prisoners, have been charged wth his murder. Our government have advised that "young black men need positive role models", an example of Tim Campbell from the Apprentice TV show was given. We were reminded of previous deaths in this culture and we saw the rapper, 50 cents. Peckham teenagers agree, one told how he would love "money, a house, a wife - and all legitimate." Apparantly, "negative media stereotyping" is partly to blame. A youth worker spoke and plans were revealed for a new government race minister, just in time for the Olympics.
Post Office workers have called off their proposed strike action.
As promised, the gorilla story and we went to the Congo to hear of deaths and to see babies, the quote was along the lines of "to prevent stealing breath from infant, mountain gorillas". Thick in the jungle we went to witness the astonishing sight of a juvenile, parentless gorilla which has been adopted, in the manner of Madonna, by a mature female. This told us that "something serious must have happened to the original mother" and was therefore cause for concern.
To close, we were told how the mountain gorilla is a "gentle and curious animal" and a "profound mirror for our species." Surely a contradiction, somewhere ?
cheers
Our reporter, Evan Davies, was at Heathrow to tell us more; bizarrely he was dressed in a hard hat and yellow reflective jacket as he spoke of "baggage mountains" and indicated piles of suitcases. We went back to the studio where Evan had performed a quick Mr. Benn routine and was now dressed in suit and ready to chat with Fiona. Here, he elaborated slightly on the story and told how it was not just security that was slowing the airport function down, there are "immigration queues for example."
Iraq next, another 2 British soldiers killed, 4 this week, one of their sisters was interviewed, obviously upset. We heard from an MP who told how these soldiers are "keeping us safe", no mention was made of what. Talk was of the situation in Basra, we heard how our troops are in "danger of getting a good kicking" and an arial map was shown with the danger-zones highlighted in blood red. Images of burning vehicles and urban anarchy were shown to close.
2 RAF men killed in Yorkshire - helicopter crash
A serviceman at Sandhurst has been arrested after a female cadet plunged from a third floor window to her death. Mention was made of a love triangle.
17 holidaymakers have been injured in the Artic circle after the luxury liner they were cruising on, was involved in an altercation with an ice flow - a chunk fell off, and heavy waves then rocked the vessel. We were told how the Artic was a "popular tourist destination" and that the Russian crew had perhaps been "too close". The local artic constabulary are looking into this matter further - allegations of shipmates monkeying about?
Foot and Mouth - still some debate over who exactly is to blame for the outbreak(s) and we heard how a worker at the states Institute for Animal Health (IAH) research station had contracted legionairres disease although obviously this has no connection. Dr Anderson, a chief government scientist told that this was an irrelevant side issue - he spoke of scientists working 24 hours per day (amphetamine?) and seems to be insinuating that Merial must be to blame as they had handled one million times more of the virus than the IAH.
We continued as we heard of another 300 cows culled today; farmer John Emmerson was "gutted", he couldnt watch it. "Some better news" though, as we saw "cattle heading for an abbatoir." They'll be gutted too, shortly.
Coming up - Death in the Jungle - Gorillas
First, floods in Asia. We heard of the problems - lack of shelter and drinking water. An arial map was shown with the affected zones highlighted. A reporter told how he had witnessed "a woman, minutes from death, just reaching a hospital in time".Images of flood victims were shown, we heard of diarrhoe and saw individuals drinking clearly dirty water, they had "no choice." More images were shown of infants and hospitals along with flooded bamboo shack style housing.
Pakistan - no state of emergency has been imposed (implying it should be) and we heard of George Bush and a "key in the war on terror."
Stock markets - crashing worldwide
A Dr. Sandhu has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a thirteen year old girl at the hospital in Norfolk where he worked. Police also found indecent images of a juvenile on his personal computer at home. We heard how all the appropriate security and background checks had been carried out before he was offered employment in the UK.
Gun crime - Jesse James in Manchester, two individuals described as prisoners, have been charged wth his murder. Our government have advised that "young black men need positive role models", an example of Tim Campbell from the Apprentice TV show was given. We were reminded of previous deaths in this culture and we saw the rapper, 50 cents. Peckham teenagers agree, one told how he would love "money, a house, a wife - and all legitimate." Apparantly, "negative media stereotyping" is partly to blame. A youth worker spoke and plans were revealed for a new government race minister, just in time for the Olympics.
Post Office workers have called off their proposed strike action.
As promised, the gorilla story and we went to the Congo to hear of deaths and to see babies, the quote was along the lines of "to prevent stealing breath from infant, mountain gorillas". Thick in the jungle we went to witness the astonishing sight of a juvenile, parentless gorilla which has been adopted, in the manner of Madonna, by a mature female. This told us that "something serious must have happened to the original mother" and was therefore cause for concern.
To close, we were told how the mountain gorilla is a "gentle and curious animal" and a "profound mirror for our species." Surely a contradiction, somewhere ?
cheers
Thursday, 9 August 2007
BBC TV News Review - Wednesday 8th August
Fiona Bruce was at the helm of the BBC News at 10 as we embarked on our journey; we commenced with foot and mouth and were advised that there appears to be easing on the movement of livestock ban; however images of slaughtered cattle were shown, and we heard of another cull.
The source is still a contentious issue, it seems that drainage in the Merial laboratory is now under scrutiny although we heard again about possible staff involvement. The EU considers Great Britain as a "big risk" and as such, our meat is still subject to an export ban - this decision will be reviewed in a couple of weeks and will depend upon whether any further outbreaks occur outwith the containment zone.
Another television controversy followed as we heard of a polce investigation into a Channel 4 documentary type programme, Dispatches, which was shown in January. We saw some small clips of ths particular edition and heard of hatred against gays - "throw him off the mountain." The police mounted an enquiry against the alleged Islamic extremism pictured, which was the puported point of the show; yet it appeared that in fact it had been spliced together from various extracts and therefore the programme makers had been investigated in terms of racism. We were reminded how ITV, GMTV and the BBC have already had their knuckles rapped recently for misrepresentation - the implication seemed to be that Channel 4 were obviously guilty.
However, we then saw a representative from Channel 4. He looked like a taller version of the BBC's own Nick Robinson. An intellectual, sophisticated type. He told of a zero tolerance attitute to racism. Images of Muslims were shown and we heard of a similar type story involving the Kent police and an investigative reporter, Duncan McIntyre - the police had eventually to pay damages - "they are not always the best judges"
We moved on (or did we?) - US forces kill 30 militants
Another two British soldiers killed in separate incidents in Iraq.
Manchester and the ongoing Jesse James murder trial. We heard of new witnesses, further arrests to be made and his mother was interviewed, she talked of justice.
Madeleine McCann - The DNA found in a cafe in Belgium, where an eye witness was convinced she saw the girl, has been analysed; it came from a man. We saw the McCann's attending a "short, informal meeting" with the Portugese police. Talk was of the Portuguese media and their speculative journalism in this matter. On a side issue, would the beared Chinese lady weightlifter, as discussed yesterday, now have male DNA?
Coming up - The smog that threatens next years Olympics
First - Hamas, Fata and Gaza - "One of the most densely populated areas on earth". We saw how Israel controls who moves in and out and we heard how the "Palestinians in the West Bank have been abandoned". I couldnt follow who by. We saw images of urban warfare and a businessman with a warehouse full of goods told how he was unable to move them. A thronging beach was shown. We heard of liberators and terrorists - "Gaza is isolated because of Hamas."
An powerful earthquake has hit Indonesia although it was undersea and therefore immediate, visible damage was minimal. One wonders about the long term or unseen effect though.
Is another interest rate rise on the cards ? We saw a graph with a large shaded line - this was the "Nile Delta" and reflected future inflation. As long as we are in the shaded bit, things should be okay, that seemed to be the suggestion. However, a gentleman from the Bank of England was interviewed, he advised "better think - put those rulers away" We heard of farmers, overdrafts, farmer's overdrafts and "rising food prices".A Honda Civic car salesman spoke of a steady market but seemingly we need a slowdown so rates will rise.
Everything's rising
Sun Alliance (Nostradamusly apt name in these storm damaged times ) - have shed 500 jobs. Another financial institution, Cheltenham & Gloucester, have similarly downstaffed, 300 will go there.
Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, has called for a new commission to be established to, in effect, give Scotland a state television output, separate from the BBC.
Chinese Olympics as promised, the birds nest stadium is nearly complete, one year to go but there is a problem. Smaug. Not the dragon from the Hobbit but a thick pea-soup fog which hangs over Bejing at midday. "Chinese weathermen" were pictured, firing "cloud seeking rockets into the sky". We heard that "bad air may force cancellation" of the entire Olympics but it seems some trees are being planted and this may help. Anyway, "China has a year left to fix it's sky"
To close, we heard how the Yangtze river dolphin, previously found only in China, is feared extinct after a team of research scientists failed to find any during an extensive survey.
cheers
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